You're basically the sum of all the experiences you've ever had, and they're sort of shaken up in you and reproduced in the things you create, and that includes seeing movies.
Every single director-actor I talked to, from Warren Beatty to Clint Eastwood to George Clooney, said the biggest mistake they made is not shooting enough footage of themselves.
You don't know what the pattern of flour and chicken is going to be, but you know you're going to get some good fried chicken.
They say money can't buy happiness? Look at the smile on my face. Ear to ear, baby!
How about the more than 1 billion Muslim people in the U.S, who aren't fanatical, who don't punch women, who just want to go to school, have some sandwiches, and pray five times a day?
I like roundtables because you can talk more directly to people. And you also can get kind of a vibe on what a journalist's take is on something, and have a conversation with them more.
[Directing first film:] I was terrified, it was really very scary because there is a lot of responsibility. I think I was terrified because I wanted it to work so much. A lot of actors direct movies but I thought the stakes were kind of higher for me because I really, really cared. [...] I just worked as hard as I possibly could on every single thing, every single day. I said that if this failed it would not be because I didn't work as hard as I possibly could...every day.
I have a promptness problem. I am a promptness-free zone.
Persia is very different from the Arab Middle East in terms of architecture and language. Even though we think of them as one big Middle Eastern area, in truth, Persia's quite distinct.
My movies are unadorned, they're not particularly fancy, I think they're kind of workmanlike in some ways, focusing on the writing and the acting.
There are two things for a marriage to be good. One is to work hard on it. The other one is to marry above you. And I succeeded at both of those.
I get to the point where I feel relaxed, and then I just shoot a ton of material and make a lot of different choices.
I do the same thing for myself (as an actor) that I do for others.
It takes time to develop a sense of humor, shared world views.
I like to shoot until we have a relaxed environment on the set, and I try to schedule that.
I never really thought of myself as a beefcake kind of guy.
(As) a director who is a writer, I have respect for writers, so I'm less likely to step on an idea or a line.
The one benefit of having done all kinds of movies as an actor is, you learn the pros and cons of being tempted to do a really big movie because it costs a lot of money.
It was a dreamlike time for me from December 1997 to March of '98. Before that, I was basically unknown. Then, bang! The starting gun fired, and everybody just started running. It was learn-on-the-job. And there were more opportunities for work than I had time to do them.
Everyone has a different approach, but I like to shoot a lot of film anyway.
I don't spend too much time just kicking back.
I feel better about my life every day. My kids get older. My life is very rich and full of wonderful things. I've been very lucky, careerwise.
Everyone's entitled to express their political beliefs. I don't presume to tell anybody who to vote for. I am comfortable telling people what my opinions are.
School plays are fine. Theater in school is fine.
I think when you have children, it just changes your worldview.
